I went to a funeral today. It was a sobre event but like some that I have been to it was celebratory because of the belief that we (the collective congregation present) have. In the New Testament Paul sums it up best when he says "we do not grieve like those who have no hope…"

 

Never-the-less there’s nothing like a funeral to get you thinking about sombre and somewhat depressing things. I began thinking about God and His plan for salvation and the whole challenge it is to overcome obstacles to faith. I remember my faithless years and the roadblocks to God.

 

There were moments when I basically would scream into what I thought was nothing. Still. I think God appreciates the honesty (when I read the Psalms I know God appreciates honesty). It seems to me that the act of screaming at God is better than nothing – at least something in us acknowledges Him.

 

I like this prayer I stumbled across on the net today:

 

 

I don’t think God needs much in terms of our desire to know Him – even the "want, to want" is enough. Then there is hope.

 

For me it came when I finally got over my stubborn refusal to even look into it beyond a vague "something is out there" (Luke – use the force). I’m convinced the work began when I commited to reading the whole Bible, cover to cover, just to figure out what the big deal was. I think I believed I would finally be able to put to rest that whole Christian argument that there was something transforming about God’s Word – I wanted to prove once and for all it wasn’t His Word but a word of humanity.

 

You know the rest of the story – here I am – a preacher leading others and I truly believe it began with an openess to believe that I could be wrong and those crazy folks out there might just have a point.

 

Hmmm – interesting thoughts a funeral will produce.